One who pursues any field of artistic endeavor acts out of an inner impulse to experience certain phenomena. A dancer wants to experience movement. A sculptor wants to experience form. The specific type of movement that attracts a dancer - fast, slow, stately, wild, more intellectually or more emotionally shaded, etc.- depends on his own personal subjective needs.
The specific type of form that inspires a sculptor -- who among other things focuses on horizontal or vertical perspectives, volume and spatial variations -- likewise depends on his own personal subjective needs. Generally speaking, one becomes a dancer because of the inner need to experience movement, or a sculptor, because of the general need to lay hands on a material and form it. This personal impulse manifests as the artists individual style or signature.
This impulse defines any area of endeavor in which one is honestly active. This does not mean copying someone else's style because it happens to be "in", or consciously searching for “the next big thing” merely as a marketing strategy. Although economic survival sometimes compels such activity, it is not artistic endeavor for its own end.
As a painter, the primary motivating impulse is the need to experience the infinite combinations and variations of light and color. My work demonstrates a personal style driven by a need to experience the vertical, and the integration of many conflicting form and color elements. Whithout presenting a detailed psychological interpretation, the meaning of these impulses is clear to me.
The vertical expresses a need to overcome gravity, to become active, to reach for the spiritual and free myself from the material. Through color and form polarities I attempt to integrate the somewhat complex and not always harmonious parts of my personality. These are not conscious efforts, but are obvious to me when I look at my work.
The work of art is not the finished painting or sculpture. The work of art is the way an artist works on himself. Art is always a work-in-process. If the tracks of this process (the painting) resonate within an observer, the artist can project his impulse further and perhaps help the observer to work on himself. This is what is meant by the process being essential, not the product.